Airman 1st Class Preston Bromley was on leave in Maryland in June 2001 when he got a bad cramp in his leg during his workout. As he tried to walk it off, the cramps became worse. A few hours later he felt faint, and his temperature rose to 103 degrees.
So the maintainer from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., went to Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland for tests. He wasn't prepared for the diagnosis: acute myelogenous leukemia--a form of cancer. He was 19 years old.
When ...